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Dani Alves will remain in prison after a Spanish court on Tuesday rejected his request to be released on bail while sexual assault allegations against him are still being investigated.
The court had already rejected a similar request by Alves' defense team in February, saying there was a "danger" that he would flee the country and therefore refused to release him. The former Brazil national team player was arrested in January after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a nightclub on December 30. He denied and said the sex with the accuser was consensual.
A judge ordered him jailed without bail after analyzing the initial investigation by authorities and hearing testimony from Alves, the alleged victim and other witnesses.
Her decision to divorce him prevented his release to house arrest. Joanna Sanz (Photo by Getty Images, Julian Finney)
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Alves' lawyers have submitted a 200-page report and security camera footage that they say undermines the victim and other witnesses' accounts. The lawyers also reiterated that Alves would accept any measures imposed by the court, such as handing over his passports and wearing a tracking device, if released on bail. As mentioned, the request was denied, and according to Spanish law, for the offenses for which Alves is suspected the maximum penalty is 15 years in prison.
What should worry Alves is the manner in which the judge rejected all the arguments of his lawyers. "It's intriguing," the judge said, "if everything went so well between Alves and the girl, why didn't they exchange a word after they left the bathroom until the end of the evening?"
The judge also dismissed Alves' lawyers' argument over security footage showing the two talking and smiling at the nightclub. "The fact that they are together, talking, drinking, is normal - and it has nothing to do with what happened in the bathroom, and there as we know there is no footage of the cameras, while the complainant claims that there she was raped by Mr. Alves, who forced her to have sex."
In addition, despite Alves' attempt to show that he has "roots" in Barcelona and therefore will not flee, the judge rejected the claim, saying: "Brazil and Spain do not have an extradition treaty, and if he goes to Brazil, he will be out of our range." Also, although his first ex-wife plans to move to Barcelona with his children, the judge said: "The fact that he divorced his previous wife demonstrates that he has no roots."
The judge also noted the changes in versions of Alves, who at first completely denied having sex with the complainant. "The suspect gave several versions, and each time presented different facts," the judge said, "when he suddenly found out that his sperm had been found in the complainant's body, he changed his version." Alves claimed that at first he denied having sex with the complainant only because he did not want to hurt his wife publicly. Now it turns out that the divorce from her is costing him dearly.
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